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Grants >> Description of 2003 Grants: Eurasia
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Regional Programs: Go to 2003 Annual Report |
Armenia Armenian Association of Women with University Education $32,800 To build skills and promote activism among women, through nation-wide training seminars, regional seminars, survey research, a conference, and ten roundtables. The Association will also establish two new regional information centers, publish the conference proceedings, the results of the survey, and print and email versions of a newsletter. Center for International Private Enterprise $67,143 To support the Association for Foreign Investment and Cooperation in providing a comprehensive assessment of the state of corporate-governance reforms and initiatives in Armenia. The Association will congregate various members of relevant corporate-governance communities for training programs and roundtable discussions and will provide information to assist in the development of sound corporate-governance practices. Helsinki Association of Armenia $41,180 To continue support for the "Lawyers for Human Rights" project to improve legislation on human rights; to continue providing pro-bono legal services; to monitor trial proceedings and the prison system; to educate the public about their rights under Armenian and international law; and to improve human rights education for lawyers. Republican Center for Democracy $37,900 To provide legal aid to vulnerable segments of the population; to conduct monitoring of human rights; to publicize its activities through press conferences and workshops; and to lobby for legislation concerning judicial reform. Azerbaijan Ayna Matbu Evi Publishing House $25,487 To conduct a four-part program of activities to provide increased access to information for voters during the upcoming presidential elections. The Publishing House’s Ekho newspaper will increase coverage of the pre-election campaign in five regions of Azerbaijan, conduct a special Internet forum, and publish an additional insert of election-related news and information. Azerbaijan Foundation for the Development of Democracy $34,990 To provide legal consultations for the most vulnerable segments of society in ten regions of Azerbaijan. The Foundation’s ten regional offices will respond to citizens’ requests for legal aid, offer instruction on laws and regulations governing NGOs, inform the public about laws pertaining to the presidential elections, and produce three publications pertaining to these programs. Center for Debate in Civil Society $12,756 To sponsor a program to encourage debate among Azerbaijani youth by teaching debate skills to hundreds of students in five parts of Azerbaijan, holding a series of public student debates, and convening a student parliament. Center of Young Leaders $25,000 To integrate Azerbaijani youth into the local NGO and media community. The Center will conduct a five-month intensive course of study for youth, publish a monthly newspaper and Web page, and foster the formation of a youth movement, with the intention of educating Azerbaijani youth and imparting the values of activism, teamwork, and civic responsibility. Center for Political and Economic Reforms (CPER) $35,000 To increase the chances for a free a free and fair presidential election in Azerbaijan in 2003 by publishing informational materials on preventing fraud and falsification throughout the presidential election period and by training election observers and monitors in fifteen regions of Azerbaijan. FAR Centre for Economic and Political Research $42,823 To increase the chances for a free and fair presidential election in Azerbaijan in 2003 by studying and reporting on public opinion and voter intentions, generating an educational manual for election observers, and training election observers and monitors. Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan $25,000 To monitor the judiciary and educate the Azerbaijani public about legal standards and procedures, including the process of appealing to international bodies. The Center will conduct courtroom monitoring, provide legal counseling to persons who complain about arbitrary judicial behavior, and conduct seminars in Baku to teach human rights defenders and victims of human rights abuses how to use Azerbaijan’s laws and international instruments to press their cases. Upon project completion, the staff will hold a series of press conferences and publish a report of their findings. Society of Women for Peace and Democracy of Trans Caucasus $16,650 To write, publish, and distribute a book on the rights and responsibilities of the police in Azerbaijan and to conduct a series of training seminars for approximately 1,000 of the most civically active members of the population from five villages on the Absheron peninsula. Legal Education Society $35,380 To educate the Azerbaijani public about the European System of human rights by conducting six mock trials, publishing several books on European and international human rights law and practice, and producing three talk shows to be broadcast on an independent television station. The Society will also provide free legal advice and preparation of cases for consideration by the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Committee on Human Rights, training courses for the legal and human rights communities and for members of the media, and a university-level survey course on the international system of human rights protection. Model Constitutional Court $29,846 To raise the awareness of the Azerbaijani public’s understanding of the rule of law and the benefits of a democratic system through a program of mock trials. The Model Constitutional Court will hold eleven mock trials throughout Azerbaijan, publish articles in the press after each trial, produce a book about their activities, and begin consultations with counterparts in Georgia and Central Asia about conducting similar programs. "Reliable Future" Youth Organization $26,335 To implement a program to strengthen democracy at the local level in Azerbaijan by conducting training for leaders and employees of municipalities in ten regions of Azerbaijan and publishing booklets for use by residents and leaders of the targeted municipalities. Social Union of Sumgait Youth $17,735 To continue and expand the operation of its Multimedia Support Center, which provides needed services to the sixty NGOs in the Sumgait region. The Center will also purchase additional equipment for use by registered NGOs, produce television programs highlighting the work of the NGO sector, and publish directories of local NGOs and initiative groups for public dissemination. Southern Resource Center of Human Rights Organizations $30,953 To implement a program to improve the observance of human rights in Azerbaijan through the establishment of resource centers throughout five regions of the country (North, Shirvan, West, South, Nahichevan). The Center will support NGOs in the various regions of Azerbaijan, organize an exploratory working conference, and develop the technical resources of each regional center. The local centers will provide legal aid, office services, and training for regional NGOs, in addition to administering a small grants program and organizing a conference. SOS ’03 Electoral League $34,958 To mobilize voter participation prior to Azerbaijan’s 2003 presidential elections by holding an international conference on election issues, publishing educational materials, holding public forums, sponsoring a series of live broadcasted presidential debates, and holding a series of rallies and other public activities to increase voter involvement in the election. "Towards Civil Society" Center $19,075 To support a program to strengthen democracy at the local level in Azerbaijan by supporting better relations and communication between local governments and the media. The program will include training seminars in fifteen regions of the country, continued work with the media on covering municipal matters, and publication of materials in bulletin form and on the internet. Belarus A) Independent Media $185,378* To strengthen pro-democratic sources of objective information, including national and regional newspapers, youth magazines, websites, NGO bulletins, an Internet magazine, and other independent publications that are breaking the information blockage maintained by the authoritarian regime in Belarus. B) Human Rights $131,101* To promote human and civil rights in Belarus by supporting networks of human rights activists, defending activists and organizations repressed by the regime, monitoring the country’s human rights situation, providing legal aid, organizing human rights education programs, and disseminating information about rights violations. C) NGO Development $279,340* To develop and strengthen Belarus’ third sector, especially regional NGOs, civic clubs, and youth groups, through support for training workshops, roundtables, public meetings, networking projects, small grants, publications, equipment, and daily operating expenses. D) Local Government $67,583* To promote pro-democratic local government and reforms at the local level in Belarus through training, advocacy, education, and public outreach campaigns. E) Political Parties and Free Elections $178,610 * To train pro-democratic political party activists, especially youth, through crossborder networking programs, to study lessons learned from the country’s 2003 local elections, to build pro-democracy coalitions at the local levels, and to promote debates on key topics facing Belarus’ electorate. Georgia Fund "Sukhumi" $19,942 To provide women in western Georgia with the theoretical and practical knowledge to become independent actors in a democratic society through entrepreneurship; to organize training seminars on basic principles of entrepreneurship for women; and to publish an informational bulletin on women’s entrepreneurship. United Nations Association of Georgia $26,931 To expand its network of youth groups in two regions of Georgia, Kutaisi, and Gori. Each club will conduct twelve meetings and six case studies of negotiations over the course of the year and also provide libraries and Internet resources to help participants prepare for the events. The Association will also organize a ten-day summer camp. Kazakhstan American Center for International Labor Solidarity $136,447 To implement an introductory union-education program for national and local union leaders. The program will include a total of ten seminars on issues related to the ways in which unions engage in effective advocacy in a democratic environment. Center for International Private Enterprise $89,039 To support the Almaty Association of Entrepreneurs in a project to analyze the flaws of the Administrative Code, the single most important legal document regulating the relationship between government and entrepreneurs. The Association will work to rid the Administrative Code of corrupt points and to steer the country toward democratic reform. Independent Information Agency "Politon" $20,020* To continue its weekly discussion club, a forum for democratic activists, members of the media, and concerned citizens to exchange ideas and produce alternative sources of information and opinion. The discussion club will include a separate youth section for topics of particular interest to young people. The club will publish reports on the information and analyses generated from its discussions, using its website and e-mail. Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law $21,165* To provide free legal consultations in the bureau’s headquarters in Almaty, observe trials, organize a legal-aid hotline, and report on these activities via the media. The Center will also provide free access to the database “Jurist,” which contains texts of laws that are otherwise difficult to obtain. Street Law – Kazakhstan $29,202* To conduct a -level civic education program in three regions of Kazakhstan. The program will include training for ninety teachers and school administrators and pilot teaching for approximately 300 students in the eighth through tenth grades in ten to fifteen regional schools. Women’s Federation "Status" $14,955 To advocate for equal protection of women’s rights; to monitor the law-enforcement and judicial authorities and promote the concept of accountability; to encourage female participation in the political process through an internet resource center for female victims of domestic violence in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk in East Kazakhstan oblast. The Federation will amplify the impact of the project by holding seminars for organizations that offer free internet access, to teach them not only to address the problem of domestic violence, but also how governmental institutions would approach the issue in a democratic society. Kyrgyzstan Center for International Private Enterprise $53,191 To implement a program to increase business participation in policy making to improve business development and the economy of Kyrgyzstan by solidifying a constructive private-public dialogue. The institute will work with the Committee of Private Entrepreneurs to target small traders and lesser market participants. CIPE will also form a partnership with the Bishkek Business Club that focuses on medium-sized business. These groups will channel the voice of the business community into a dialogue with government on ways to improve the democratic climate and entrepreneurial environment. Civil Society Against Corruption $24,990 To establish a program entitled "Building Blocks of Democracy" in preparation for the 2005 presidential and parliamentary elections. The program will include legal and human rights consultations in its head office; visits to 22 villages to train 660 local activists in anti-corruption and political advocacy; organization of a contest for the best anti-corruption program; trainings for local anti-corruption organizations; and public discussions of pertinent political issues such as electoral law. Internews Kyrgyz Republic $16,621* To translate its popular Media Law Manual into Kyrgyz and distribute it for use in universities and to train university professors of media law to improve their teaching skills and substantive knowledge. Internews will also set up a center to provide legal advice to mass media in the south of the country, monitor the situation of journalists in Kyrgyzstan, and report regularly about the state of media law. Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights $26,080 To maintain a regional network of fifteen existing human rights offices and establish five new offices that will all provide legal advice and human rights assistance. The committee will report on human rights issues; lobby the government to comply with international laws pertaining to torture; and assist victims of the Aksy demonstration in obtaining a complete investigation and hold officials accountable for the use of force against protestors. MSN Company, Ltd. $50,000* To continue support for independent press freedom by supplying newsprint to the Moya Stolitsa newspaper. The newspaper, which reports unbiased information on national politics, the economy, law and current events, will publish two editions per week over a six month period. Shoola-Kol $19,972 To continue a human rights project in the Tonsk region of Kygyzstan. The project will provide legal services in its main office, train school teachers in the 31 schools, and hold a series of two day seminars to raise awareness about elections and increase participation in local elections in 2004. Russia The Andrei Sakharov Archives and Human Rights Center of Brandeis University $22,292 To contribute to understanding the Soviet past by making the Sakharov KGB file widely available to Russians through an online database. The database will include scanned copies of the documents along with a search engine. Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Center $32,000 To conduct a teachers’ competition to raise interest in the history of Stalinism. Teachers from seven cities will create lesson plans on the subject; the winners of seven regional competitions will take part in a national competition to be held in Moscow. Agency for Social Information $49,999* To produce a daily news wire on developments in the NGO sector. The wire will be sent to media outlets, NGO subscribers, and state agencies and institutions. The Agency will also produce quarterly bulletins on various issues of interest to the NGO community and monthly bulletins on the general development of the nonprofit and nongovernmental sector. Center for Development of Democracy and Human Rights $42,500 To produce a monthly bulletin containing analyses of pending legislation and parliamentary activity on human rights issues. The Center will organize press conferences to increase the availability of information and public response about pending legislation and will produce a short book analyzing the voting behaviors of members of the Duma. Center for Ecological Policy in Russia $25,000 To organize a conference of ecological activists, to be called the Civil Society Congress. Approximately 750 civil society activists from throughout Russia will attend. The Center will also prepare and present an analytical report on the current state of civil society. Center for International Private Enterprise $139,274 To support the Regional Public Foundation’s "Information Science for Democracy" Program in several activities aimed at decreasing corruption that affects small- and medium-sized businesses. Center for Social Projecting "Vozrozhdenie" $49,876 To organize six conferences for members of the political elite of Pskov oblast in northwest Russia. Vozrozhdenie's information service will prepare a series of newspaper articles and radio and television programs for the public at large, dealing with various topics related to the functioning of a democratic political system; every two months, up to 100 members of the regional political elite will take part in a conference to discuss the applicability of these topics to the Pskov political scene. Center for Support of Democracy and Civic Initiatives $24,999 To carry out research into corruption in Yaroslavl oblast; to organize a Public Anticorruption Committee, which will hold monthly roundtables for local experts and officials and work to promote passage of anticorruption legislation; to carry out a program of training seminars for local officials, civil society actors, and representatives of the mass media; to publish two brochures advising citizens how to deal with corruption; and to publish a monthly newspaper dealing with the issue of corruption throughout the region. Center for Support of Democratic Youth Initiatives $30,000 To expand its program of teacher-training, human rights curriculum development, and publishing. The Center will open up to nineteen civic education teaching centers throughout Perm oblast and offer human rights training to teachers from throughout the oblast. The Center will also carry out a civic education olympiad for tenth and eleventh graders, produce an updated edition of its methodological guidebook and two brochures for teachers, and offer free courses in human rights to adults in Perm oblast. Center for Support of Land Reform in Vladimir Oblast $36,500 To distribute information on land reform in Vladimir oblast and the four neighboring oblasts through newspaper articles, pamphlets, radio transmissions, and public meetings in order to familiarize rural residents with issues and procedures relating to land sales. Center staff will coordinate a public legal-aid office to advise residents of Vladimir oblast directly and will occasionally become involved in court cases. Finally, Center staff will work with government agencies and legislators to develop new regulations relating to land reform. Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations $41,994 To distribute daily, weekly, and monthly bulletins on violations of journalists’ rights to its extensive mailing list of professional journalists and human rights experts. The Center will also maintain and modernize its website, and will continue to develop its “Association of Journalists’ Organizations in Defense of Freedom of Speech,” in order to help journalists unite effectively in defense of their rights. Chelyabinsk Oblast Public Fund "Helping Hand" $36,926 To continue its free legal-aid clinic for the indigent while offering human rights training to employees of pretrial detention centers. Helping Hand will also continue its training program for NGO leaders and operate an NGO resource center with material resources and consulting services for local NGOs. Finally, Helping Hand will expand its legal aid and NGO resource consultation activities to neighboring Sverdlovsk oblast by opening a branch of its organization in the oblast capital, Ekaterinburg. Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Tatarstan $24,548* To arrange for the publication of human rights materials in newspapers in the local languages of three non-Russian republics and to carry out training for human rights activists, journalists, and representatives of government agencies in each of these republics. The Committee will also continue to provide free human rights defense services in these republics and will carry out a series of public-information lectures for residents of rural regions of the republics. Environmental Human Rights Center "Bellona" $40,000 To continue publishing its journal, Ekologia I Pravo (Ecology and Human Rights), which examines the issues of environment, government, and human rights. The Center will increase the frequency and print run of the journal and continue to operate its webpage. The Center also plans to establish a network of part-time correspondents throughout Russia. Glasnost Defense Foundation $42,821 To publish six books on the freedom of the press. These publications will be used in training seminars provided by the Foundation and other organizations and provided to public and university libraries, university journalism departments, lawyers, representatives of national and regional executive and legislative agencies, and human rights organizations. GOLOS NGO Coalition $60,000 To train election observers in six regions of the Russian Federation and release twice-weekly reports on violations committed during the Duma election campaign. At the end of the campaign, GOLOS will release a comprehensive report on the entire monitoring effort, including recommendations on how to make the election process freer and fairer. Human Rights Publishers $36,000* To publish and distribute Human Rights Defender, with a circulation of 3,750, throughout the Russian Federation. The journal publishes articles on the human rights situation in Russia, along with news and important human rights documents from abroad. INDEM Foundation $25,000 To work with the School of Public Administration of Moscow State University to develop a complete course on corruption, including lesson plans, practical exercises, and a textbook. The course will be taught at Moscow State University during the Fall 2003 semester. Independent Council of Legal Expertise $50,000 To provide human rights organizations and other influential groups with expert analyses of pending legislation; actively intervene in particularly complex instances of human rights violations; and work to develop effective mechanisms of social influence to guarantee individual rights. Information Agency "Memo.ru" $49,521* To continue to maintain its website devoted to the Caucasus, The Caucasus Switchboard. The website contains news on current events, information on civil society, news of NGO events, and academic and applied analysis of the region. Information and Analytical Center SOVA $25,000 To compile a database of articles containing anti-democratic rhetoric in the Russian press, which will be posted on the SOVA website. SOVA will also produce a monthly electronic newsletter and organize three roundtables for Russian democracy activists. Finally, SOVA will produce an analytical report at the end of the project, following the March 2004 presidential elections. Information Center of the Human Rights Movement $49,945* To continue its campaign to raise the visibility of the human rights movement through press releases, press conferences, and press monitoring. The Center will also help overcome human rights groups’ information shortage by publishing a specialized bulletin, Chronicle of the Moscow Helsinki Group, which will discuss issues of interest to human rights activists. Finally, the Center will help human rights organizations work more effectively with the press by offering training in press relations. Information-Research Center PANORAMA $41,134 To develop a website and publish a series of briefing books on the developing threat to Russian democracy. International Memorial Society $40,185 To train human rights activists in using data from public opinion polling. Using existing polling data on how Russians think about human rights issues, twenty-five human rights activists will develop informational campaigns intended to raise public concern about specific human rights issues. Public opinion polls in each city before and after the campaigns will assess the program’s impact. International Protection Center $40,000* To offer free legal representation to individuals who have exhausted all possibilities in the Russian legal system and wish to pursue their cases in the European Court of Human Rights. Potential cases will be screened to ensure that they meet the criteria for admissibility before the court and staff attorneys will prepare the necessary documentation of the cases and present oral arguments before the court. International Republican Institute $150,966 To conduct a year-long series of seminars for the League of Women Voters and the Women’s Leadership and Partnership Network; to encourage women from these groups to pursue political involvement; and to develop informal networks among themselves. The seminars will consist of women elected officials sharing advice with women wishing to run for public office, as well as political party trainings. International Republican Institute $200,000 To conduct a program on practical applications of concurrent and complementary government powers. IRI will work with deputies of multiple parties to solicit recommendations for these applications from those at the municipal and regional levels. IRI will recruit and assemble a team of experts who can serve in a consultative fashion to regions and federal district administrations. Over the course of the program, three consultations will be provided in the three target areas. At the end of the program, IRI will record its experiences in a third installment to its series on Russian Federalism. Interregional Foundation for Civil Society $60,000 To sponsor a small-grants program to assist regional human rights groups and place them on more solid footing. These grants offer local human rights organizations the opportunity to begin working in a genuinely professional manner, to gain experience planning and carrying out projects, and to learn how to apply for and manage external funds. Kaliningrad Resource, Information, and Analysis Center $25,000 To conduct a program of human rights monitoring in Kaliningrad oblast. The Center will train six human rights monitors, employ a variety of methods to monitor adherence to human rights norms, prepare a report for distribution to local officials, and organize a roundtable for representatives of regional law enforcement agencies and a seminar for leaders of Kaliningrad oblast NGOs. League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg $42,800 To support its St. Petersburg headquarters and six of its regional affiliates in northwest Russia. The League will organize a series of events for elected officials, NGO leaders, and the public at large. In addition, each of the regional affiliates will operate a full-time public reception office to offer citizens legal advice and to assist NGO leaders in establishing and developing their organizations. Narodnaya Assembleya Foundation $50,000 To continue its operation of the Information Press Center and organize press conferences, briefings, seminars, and roundtables for human rights and pro-democracy organizations, which will give journalists access to a wide variety of speakers on key political, economic, and social issues. National Democratic Institute for International Affairs $300,000 To undertake a regionally based program to strengthen public confidence in elections, improve basic electoral processes and strengthen political parties. NDI will conduct intensive political party building seminars and trainings for political parties, organize a series of roundtable discussions and civic working groups on democratic institutions, and help the VOICE Association prepare to monitor the State Duma elections in December 2003. Ozersk City Social and Ecological Public Organization "Planeta Nadezhd" $26,177* To carry out in-depth sociological research into the political culture and decision-making processes of the city of Ozersk, a “closed administrative territorial formation” (ZATO) which is home to the Mayak nuclear plant, one of the worst sources of nuclear contamination in the world. This research will serve as the basis for two seminars for NGO leaders and officials from ZATOs from throughout the Urals region, and for a publishing and lobbying campaign to strengthen the legislative basis for defense of human rights in ZATOs. Perm-36 Memorial Museum of the History of Political Repression and Totalitarianism 35,000 To develop teaching materials for civic education and history teachers that can be widely distributed throughout Perm oblast and Russia. Regional Strategy – Kaliningrad $29,244 To conduct a training program for young political activists in Kaliningrad oblast and to offer ongoing consultation for youth NGOs out of its office in the town of Svetly. The organization will also offer specialized training for twenty-five NGO “middle managers,” twenty-five journalists, and 100 volunteers from three rural regions of Kaliningrad oblast. Russian Association for Civic Education $33,416 To hold the Sixth National Olympiad in Civic Education for the 2003 school year. Through a national campaign, students ranging in age from eleven to seventeen years will be invited to submit answers to a series of essay questions. Essays will be judged by an expert panel of educators and finalists will be invited to the final competition in Moscow, where winners in various age categories will be determined. During the final competition, the students’ teachers will participate in civic education training exercises. Ryazan Regional Branch of the Memorial Society $35,000* To continue publication of its journal, Karta, which offers a combination of articles on recent Soviet history, comparative politics, and present-day human rights issues. The journal is distributed to other NGOs, regional branches of the Memorial Society, independent trade unions, local government officials, and numerous universities and libraries. Saratov Legal Reform Project $30,000 To operate a free legal clinic staffed by professional lawyers and student interns from the legal-training institutes of the Saratov region. Student interns will participate in all forms of legal work relating to human rights violations and undergo extra training in practical aspects of legal work. The organization will continue its efforts to coordinate the work of the several legal clinics currently operating in the Saratov region. St. Petersburg Humanity and Political Studies Center "Strategy" $47,000* To examine corruption in three regions of Russia. The Strategy Center will carry out research on corruption, hold workshops and conferences for NGO leaders and local and regional self-government officials, and present a series of recommendations on how to prevent corruption to the legislators of the three regions. Tochka Opory $51,000* To award approximately fifteen subgrants to regional Russian youth NGOs for programs on issues such as human rights education, involvement of school students in local decision-making processes, and the reduction of interethnic tension. Tochka Opory will also offer training to NGO leaders on topics such as accounting, project management, and fundraising. Tomsk Research Center for Human Rights $24,914 To implement a three-part program of free legal aid to impoverished victims of human rights abuses, a human rights monitoring and research program, and publication of a monthly newspaper and analytical bulletin on the state of human rights in Tomsk oblast. Endowment funding will be used to support the Center’s work outside the city of Tomsk by supporting travel to outlying regions of the oblast, and will allow the Center to continue promoting pro-human rights policies at the local level. Voronezh United Democratic Center $40,428* To continue its program of informational activities and legal aid throughout Voronezh oblast by operating legal-aid centers in more isolated regions, increasing the print run of its newspaper, and carrying out seminars for pensioners living in rural areas. Yaroslavl Regional Public Organization Center for Social Partnership $49,997 To implement a wide-ranging program of NGO training, hearings on budgetary transparency, election monitoring, publications, and public events to support free and fair elections in Yaroslavl oblast. Youth Human Rights Network (YHRM) $34,996* To offer training and internships to young human rights activists from throughout the nations of the former Soviet Union and to publish a newspaper devoted to youth human rights issues. YHRM will also develop informational materials in support of nationwide campaigns on human rights issues and provide informational and other support services to human rights organizations throughout Russia and the nations of the former Soviet Union. Za Prava Cheloveka $45,000 To conduct a program of informational activities and direct human rights assistance intended to coordinate the activities of human rights organizations throughout Russia. Za Prava Cheloveka will expand its program in five more regions, offering free legal assistance to victims of human rights violations, publicizing human rights violations through the mass media and on its own Web page, and providing analyses of patterns of human rights violations. Za Prava Cheloveka $35,343 To organize the Second Congress in Defense of Human Rights which will call together activists from a variety of organizations, including, environmental groups, human rights organizations, trade unions, independent journalists, and foreign observers to remind the authorities of the continued significance of the nongovernmental sectors; to draw attention to rising threats to democracy and human rights; and to put forth a program of joint action in defense of democratic freedoms. Russia (Chechnya) Chechen Committee for National Salvation $25,000 To implement a program of legal aid and information gathering and distribution. Working in the cities of Nazran, Grozny, Urus-Martan, and Gudermes, the Committee will offer legal assistance to Chechen refugees and gather and distribute information about refugee conditions and about government actions. LAM Center for Complex Research and Popularization of Chechen Culture $50,000* To promote democratic ideals and practices throughout the Chechen Republic and Chechen diaspora by organizing a series of roundtables for representatives of the Chechen intelligentsia. The Center will also publish six issues of its bulletin; manage a website that presents materials from numerous Chechen NGOs; produce several short films; conduct public opinion surveys; and offer five mini-grants to newly formed NGOs. LATTA Center $25,000 To organize a conference and three roundtables on various issues facing Chechen civil society and make efforts to organize a Chechen Civic Council of NGOs, which will serve as a basis for developing joint proposals on Chechnya’s political future. LATTA will also gather information on ongoing events in Chechnya for distribution in an email bulletin titled, “Dispatches from Chechnya,” and publish a quarterly bulletin, LATTA, containing in-depth analyses of the political and social situation in Chechnya. The Society for Russian-Chechen Friendship $50,000 To support a network of correspondents throughout the Chechen Republic and to distribute information received from these correspondents to both the Russian and Western media. The information will be distributed in the form of press releases, news analyses, and the Society’s monthly newspaper, Pravo-zashchita. Tajikistan Center for International Private Enterprise $62,463 To support the National Association of Managers and Marketologists’ efforts to improve the relationship between the business community and government tax agencies, by working to reduce the loophole in the existing Tax Code and develop a Code of Ethics for tax collectors and taxpayers. Independent School for Journalists "Tajikistan – 21st Century" $35,000* To provide modern, comprehensive training for radio professionals. The school will train sixty staff members from the four independent radio stations that recently were granted operating licenses by the government. The school will also conduct consultations and offer working journalists and students of journalism free access to the resources assembled at the school, including internet, computers, office facilities, manuals, and textbooks for radio professionals. National Association for Independent Mass Media $24,912* To conduct eight seminars in four regions of Tajikistan to bring together journalists with press representatives of federal ministries, Procuracy officials, court officials, and the police. The Association will publish a manual for trainers and organize one-week internships at Moscow newspapers for six Tajik journalists. National Democratic Institute for International Affairs $184,776 To continue to maintain an office in Tajikistan to help local NGOs prepare for the 2005 parliamentary elections. The institute will conduct activities aimed at strengthening political parties, encouraging civic participation, and increasing independent broadcast media. NGO "Modar" $24,798* To conduct a program aimed at improving the status of women as full participants in the civic life of some of the most isolated regions of Tajikistan. The project will include the publication of a book explaining political involvement as it relates to women; a series of trainings for trainers who will use the book; a series of seminars and roundtables; and a regularly broadcast radio program. Turkmenistan A) Protecting Human Rights and Providing Legal Assistance $105,212 To monitor human rights and promote the rule of law by providing pro bono legal assistance to the most vulnerable segments of the population, such as refugees, stateless persons, and those persecuted by the regime. In addition, Endowment supported programs provide legal counsel and clinics in Turkmenbashi and Ashgabad, conduct seminars for NGO staff, monitor human rights abuses and violations of due process, and provide of.ce support for local NGOs. B) Promoting Education and NGO Development $48,735 To expose youth to democratic ideas by improving the system of secondary education. This includes training teachers in interactive methods of instruction and ways to incorporate them into the curriculum and making manuals, guides, and samples available for teacher use. Endowment funding will also support NGO development programs by conducting evening seminars and individual consultations for staff of newly formed repression. Ukraine Agency for Legislative Initiatives $24,850* To support the publication of the monthly Parliament Journal. The journal contains unique and timely information about Ukraine’s parliament, as well as a section on comparative analyses of parliamentary practices in other countries. American Center for International Labor Solidarity $399,968 The American Center for International Labor Solidarity will implement a program of extensive trade union education targeting further development of tripartite social dialogue, the building of union leadership skills, promotion of women leaders, and strengthening organizational capacity. ACILS will continue its support for trade union-sponsored legal assistance and media outreach, and will support and encourage greater dialogue between Ukrainian trade unions and the international labor community. Center for International Private Enterprise $83,598* To work with the Association of Entrepreneurs "Infobusiness" to combat corruption in taxation and customs. The Association will monitor Ukrainian taxation and customs legislation to disclose areas that leave room for corruption; hold twelve regional seminars to discuss specific pieces of ambiguous legislation and to seek official explanations from government supervisory bodies; offer legal support to entrepreneurs involved in arbitration; and create an Internet resource that will include all seminar materials and information about specific case studies and court cases. Center for International Private Enterprise $147,529 To work with the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research and the Institute for Competitive Society to implement a project advocating a National Business Agenda for Ukraine. Nationally, CIPE’s partners will work with policymakers to propose updated legislation towards implementing the reform-policy recommendations made during a previous project. On the regional and local levels, CIPE’s partners will focus on local and regional barriers to private-sector development and will work with those administrations to develop strategies for implementation of existing and proposed reforms. Democratic Initiatives Foundation $50,000 To conduct twelve monthly large-sample public opinion surveys, in conjunction with smaller monthly surveys of approximately eighty Ukrainian journalist attitudes on key domestic and foreign-policy issues. Results of the surveys will be discussed at roundtables held in various regions and will be published in the Foundation’s quarterly bulletins and website. Dniprovsky Center for Social Research $25,000 To organize a wide-ranging program of research, seminars, roundtables, and informational activities designed to increase the flow of information between citizens, NGOs, and government in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine. Donetsk Human Rights School $32,000 To conduct a program of conferences, teacher training, and curriculum development for secondary-school teachers. The School will organize a national conference for civic education specialists and a civic education training seminar; prepare a guide to civic education resources for faculty and students of pedagogical institutes; revise and update its courses on civic education for use in Ukrainian schools; and prepare CD-ROM versions of its teaching aids. Europe XXI Foundation $49,795 To implement a program focused on examining the role of civil society organizations in decision-making in six of Ukraine’s regions. A series of roundtables will analyze the results for each region, which will be used to develop an “Action Plan for Civil Society,” to be discussed at a final conference. The Foundation will also publish two books: Civil Society: Step by Step and Who’s Who in Ukraine’s Political Community. Foundation for Regional Initiatives $35,000 To educate large numbers of Ukrainians about their rights and the means available to defend them by producing and transmitting a series of public service announcements over regional Ukrainian television stations. These announcements will be accompanied by a program of publications, conferences, and roundtables intended to multiply the impact of the program. Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation $42,980 To continue its program of regional meetings of the Euro-Atlantic Network. The Institute will hold a series of seminars and roundtables throughout Ukraine, which will provide a forum for discussion of democracy and integration into Western structures and bring new nongovernmental organizations into the network. The Institute will then ensure that these NGOs are provided with a regular supply of information and literature on issues pertaining to democracy, European integration, and the democracy criteria outlined in the NATO-Ukraine Action Plan. Internews Ukraine $50,000 To maintain its Telekritika website, which is devoted to in-depth analysis of the Ukrainian media and provides a forum for widespread public discussion of media issues. Kharkiv Center for Women’s Studies $50,000 To continue its program of training and consultancy for NGO leaders and journalists on human rights issues. The Center will also work to raise awareness of women’s issues by distributing information to print media and producing television programs, and continue its research and publication program on women’s issues. Kharkiv Group for Human Rights Protection $40,000* To produce and distribute several periodicals on various aspects of human rights in Ukraine; to monitor torture and the right to privacy; and to carry out two training seminars for human rights teachers, NGO activists, government officials, and lawyers. The organization will also produce a television program on human rights to be broadcast nationwide. Lion Society $25,000 To conduct a series of training seminars to introduce representatives of NGOs and initiative groups to basic principles of NGO work and management and produce ten brochures for use in these seminars. The Lion Society will also introduce schoolteachers to basic methods of teaching civic education for a democratic society and organize short internships with western Ukrainian NGOs for twelve activists from NGOs in Southern and Eastern Ukraine. Luhansk Regional Organization "Public Education and Legal Assistance" (PELA) $28,790* To set up a website describing the local government’s activities and open eighteen public Internet-access locations to make the website more accessible. PELA will continue to provide free legal-aid services to the local population and will continue its Hromadsky Sektor (Civil Sector) television program, which will also help advertise the website and Internet access program. Open Society Foundation $48,500* To conduct a public information campaign to provide voters with timely information about the activities of their elected representatives in the Verkhovna Rada. The campaign will include the publication of quarterly reports on activities of Rada’s deputies and factions and two books. These publications will be discussed at twelve monthly press conferences and three roundtables. Regional Information Center for Women $24,941 To implement a program entitled "E-Government: New Steps in Developing Civil Society in the Kirovohrad Region." The program will provide for the creation of three new Civic Education Network centers, part of a growing regional network of NGOs, and include seventeen training events throughout the year for participants from all ten centers in the network. The Center will maintain an interactive website throughout the program, publish two brochures on information technology and government, hold a competition to identify successful civil society initiatives in the region, and present its program at upcoming international conferences on civil society in Kyiv. Smoloskyp, Inc. $66,827* To continue its program of democracy workshops and conferences for young people. Smoloskyp will also publish its monthly information bulletin, Smoloskyp Ukrainy (Torch of Ukraine), the journal Moloda Natsiya (Young Nation), its annual reference book ABC of Ukrainian Politicians, a collection of Ukrainian samizdat, and an anthology of major works of democratic philosophy. Finally, Smoloskyp will continue to develop its samizdat archive, library, and museum in Kyiv, as well as its website. Spilnyi Prostir $50,000 To encourage independent media in Ukraine, the Spilnyi Prostir Association will carryout a media monitoring program in all 24 of Ukraine’s regions and publish monthly reports on campaign preparations for the Fall 2004 presidential elections. In addition, through its network of 24 regional newspapers, the Association will carry out a public information campaign designed to increase Ukrainian voters’ ability to interpret and assimilate information coming to them from potentially biased sources. Ukrainian-American Bureau for the Protection of Human Rights $40,000 To conduct a program of research and publishing focusing on the interaction of NGOs and government. The Bureau will carry out surveys of experts with direct experience in NGO-government relations in four of Ukraine’s largest cities; prepare and publish an analytical report, including recommendations for government officials based on the surveys; and organize four roundtables to discuss the report. The Bureau will also arrange for the translation into Ukrainian of The Federalist, which will be published and distributed to Ukrainian citizens and libraries. Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Research (Razumkov Center) $50,000 To publish its monthly analytical bulletin, Natsionalna bezpeka i oborona (National Security and Defense), which addresses a variety of topics in Ukrainian politics and society. The Center will produce five monthly issues of the bulletin, 3,000 copies each in Ukrainian and 800 copies each in English. Ukrainian Legal Foundation $39,955 To create a searchable database of judicial rulings for use by legal professionals in Ukraine. The framework for researching and analyzing the rulings and practices for the database will be determined by a team of analysts. Also, a system will be formulated for providing access to legal professionals and for providing information from the database to Ukrainian courts and legal institutions on a regular basis. Ukrainska Pravda $32,812* To support the website of this online newspaper. Funding will be used primarily to pay salaries and to pay for web hosting, which will allow Ukrainska Pravda to continue producing approximately ten new news articles and opinion pieces per day. Youth Alternative $77,882* To support its "Students for Parliament" program, which supplies democratically-oriented members of parliament with knowledgeable student interns for free. During their internships, students attend seminars and produce collections of articles on important issues facing Ukraine. Uzbekistan $10,280* To organize a series of seminars in Kokand in collaboration with local units of self-government. The seminars will address issues pertaining to women’s rights, preventing violence against women, and promoting women to leadership roles. Adolat will also publish three issues of a bulletin with a circulation of 200 copies to distribute in the communities where it works. $12,015* To continue its program of human rights monitoring and legal aid in the Ferghana Valley. The program will monitor and report on the human rights situation in the area, provide free, quality legal advice to the victims of human rights violations, represent the victims before various courts, tribunals, and other institutions to seek redress, and publish a quarterly bulletin containing monitoring results and policy recommendations. $40,140* To organize a conference to bring together the different groups of the Uzbek democratic movement to coordinate positions and policies and promote the development of strategies for democratic transfer of power in Uzbekistan. Representatives of the media and international organizations will be invited to attend, and the conference proceedings will be published in a journal. $48,000 To support the print and electronic publication of the Uzbek independent journal Harakat (Movement). Endowment funding will enable the journal to be produced six times, increase its regular print run to 3,250 copies, maintain its website, and expand its in-country resources. $12,765* To document instances of illegal and arbitrary behavior on the part of Uzbekistan’s law enforcement and judicial authorities. The Center’s monitors will make five research trips to explore different types of abuses in different regions of the country. The Center’s experts will author five bulletins on their findings. $90,326 To work with the Tashkent Business Club to develop a vibrant private sector and a strong middle-class by helping to level the playing field for all who want to participate in the economy. The project will consist of activities aimed at protecting private property rights of entrepreneurs. $15,735* To monitor and report on cases of arbitrary detentions made on political and religious grounds, including abuses of prisoners in this category, and official discrimination against such prisoners’ families. To monitor trials and transcribe the proceedings; provide free, quality legal advice to the victims of human rights violations; and represent victims before various courts, tribunals, and other institutions to seek redress. To conduct five fact-finding and instructional trips to regional offices with the research obtained providing material for a quarterly report, a monograph, and a manual for activists. $7,270* To establish a center for independent public opinion polling and conduct the first pilot poll, a survey of youth attitudes, in the Bukhara region of central Uzbekistan. $15,091* To expand a NGO resource center in Kokand, a provincial city in the Ferghana Valley. The Center will provide information and technical support to local NGOs; hold consultations for NGO activists in the Center; conduct site visits to the regions; expand its library; publish a bulletin; and maintain a web page. $150,596* To impart the lessons of its six-year experience in civic education to educators from other countries in Central Asia through a series of training seminars, specific recommendations, and a conference. The Center will also conduct its landmark “Civil Society Camp” for 125 high school students. Central Asia Regional American Center for International Labor Solidarity $94,407 To conduct seminars on strategic planning, collective bargaining, organizing, youth outreach, and improving internal communications for trade unions in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Representatives of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the International Labor Organization, and global union federations will participate in the seminars. Central Asia/ Caucasus Regional Central Asia and Caucasus Journal $49,980* To provide a forum for political leaders and civic activists to present thoughtful alternatives to the government and confrontational opposition views on regional developments, particularly on how to nurture democratic values in a manner consistent with native traditions. East Central Europe/ Eurasia Regional American Bar Association Central Europe and Eurasian Law Initiative $45,000* To implement a training program for human rights activists from the Ferghana Valley region of Central Asia. Thirty representatives from human rights organizations based along the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will attend a two-week training course at the CEELI Institute in Prague. The program will provide the activists with the skills and mechanisms to defend and combat violations of human rights in this key region. East European Democratic Center $72,450 To continue assisting the independent press in Eastern Europe. The Center will carry out a two-part cross-border program, including a project to increase independent newspaper distribution and a small grants competition to assist newly-established independent newspapers. More than thirty independent regional newspapers will participate in the project, and approximately ten to fifteen will be awarded small grants to expand their print runs or develop their distribution systems. East European Democratic Center $43,000* To continue assisting the third sector in Eastern Europe. The Center will carry out a three-part program, including a small grants competition to support approximately fifteen to twenty independent newspapers, a conference to promote and improve cross-border democracy-building programs, and an informational website. East European Democratic Center $58,560* To continue fostering the development of independent youth organizations in western Ukraine. Seven basic and advanced training workshops for approximately 175 local youth leaders will be conducted, two strategic planning roundtables will be held, and twenty-five to thirty small grants will be awarded for regional and local youth initiatives in eight regions of the country. East Europe Democracy Center $50,000* To develop a program to assist the local and regional non-state press in Ukraine. To conduct two training seminars for representatives of thirty newspapers, organize ten internships at similar papers in Poland, and provide small grants to eight to ten local and regional publications. Foundation for Education for Democracy $20,000* To continue its cross-border civic education training program in Eastern Europe. Funding will be used to organize a series of events for teachers, students, and school administrators, including meetings of civic education teachers' clubs, basic and advanced civic education workshops, a seminar for local school headmasters, a train-the-trainer workshop for new teacher-trainers, and a newsletter for civic educators. Approximately 420 individuals will be trained. Foundation for Education for Democracy $120,000 To conduct thirty training workshops in Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Mongolia, and Moldova. The workshops will provide training in civic education, leadership, NGO development, and train-the-trainer skills for more than 650 local activists. Approximately seventy local trainers will take part in the training programs, as well as in exchanges and internships. Also, the Foundation will produce four “how-to” training brochures in print runs of 1,000 copies, continue to develop its Web page, and publish six issues of its newsletter. Foundation for Education for Democracy $55,000 To oversee a program of thirty training workshops and twenty exchanges and internships for approximately 660 activists from Rostov-on-Don, Kaliningrad and Samara. Kaunas Municipal Training Center $39,329 To train newly-elected, pro-democratic local government officials in Eastern Europe. Approximately forty-eight activists will take part in two training programs, two study visits, and an internship program. Kaunas Municipal Training Center/Baltic International Development Agency $42,000* To promote the development of civil society in the Kaliningrad region of Russia through cooperation between NGOs in the Kaliningrad region and their counterparts in Lithuania; to increase the skills and professionalism of NGOs in Kaliningrad; to encourage cooperation between NGOs and local government administrators in Kaliningrad; and to maintain the NGO Information and Support Center. The Information Center will provide NGOs with access to equipment, office space, and information sources such as computers, an NGO database and an electronic library on civil society, legal advice and training for newly established NGOs, and electronic access to information brochures and training materials on the Center’s website Lithuanian and U.S. Initiatives $27,344 To help rural activists in Eastern Europe establish local government committees, train pro-democratic local government officials, and assist local NGOs and independent newspapers. More than a dozen public meetings, training workshops, roundtables, planning meetings, and study visits to Lithuania will be organized. MEMO 98 $45,000 To conduct and support media-monitoring programs in Slovakia, Ukraine, Montenegro, and Serbia. MEMO will serve as a watchdog and an advocate for media reform in Slovakia and will work with local partners to develop an indigenous capacity for similar media work in the other four countries. MEMO will establish and train three teams of local media monitors, establish five domestic monitoring teams, work with its partners to craft and carry out country specific action plans for media reform, and produce and distribute a series of country and issue-based media reports. National Democratic Institute for International Affairs $240,221 To issue a subgrant to the European Institute for Democracy (EID) to organize and administer NDI training programs in political party and coalition-building; NDI will provide both financial and technical assistance. NDI will conduct trainings with EID for groups from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine, and will send Polish experts to interested countries to conduct follow-on trainings. People in Need Foundation (PINF) $24,744* To continue its cross-border program supporting the activities of independent organizations and democratic activists from Eastern Europe. PINF will conduct a series of study visits and exchange programs in the region with a focus on strengthening effective local government, promoting educational reform, and highlighting human rights issues. Approximately eighteen young political leaders, educational experts, and human rights activists will participate in the exchanges. Polish-Czech-Slovak Solidarity Foundation $31,400* To create an internship program in Poland for representatives of the independent media in Central Asia. Participants will train at selected newspapers, publishing houses, and radio and television stations. The program will also include a series of media-related seminars and meetings to provide introduction to important Polish organizations, activists, and government officials. Polish-Czech-Slovak Solidarity Foundation $33,160 To conduct a series of internships in Poland for representatives of the independent media in Eurasia. At least twenty-five journalists, editors, and media activists will spend three weeks in Poland at selected newspapers, publishing houses, and radio and television stations, receiving practical training in accordance with their specialties and the work they are currently performing. A series of media-related seminars and meetings will introduce the participants to important Polish organizations, activists, and government officials. The Pontis Foundation $52,000 To assist pro-democratic youth groups and activists in Eastern Europe through a program of training, study visits, and internships designed to strengthen youth leaders and organizations. The cross-border program will focus on improving policy analysis and the development, civic education, and leadership skills of young activists by bringing approximately forty-five activists to Slovakia. **Indicates funding source other than annual congressional appropriation |
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